Old Bavaria Haus

Wendy and I don’t usually eat out with others. Probably because my schedule is pretty messed and it’s already tough enough to go out with Wendy! So it was a pretty night to be on a ‘triple date’ with a very good buddy and his girlfriend and another couple of whom were his friends. The occasion was his birthday. It sucks because he is still younger than I am! LOL Anyways, we arrived at Old Bavaria Haus at 1900 hours in hopes of a good time!

It took a few minutes for our orders to be done. We ordered some red wine to fully appreciate our main courses and a couple of appetizers.

This was the Champignon “Au Gratin”. Outside of the word ‘da’, my German comprehension skills are at zero. According to the menu, it is decribed as “mushroom caps, topped with shrimp, bearnaise, melted cheese”. I found it to be pretty good for an appetizer to get my cravings going. Wendy thought it was alright, nothing out of the ordinary.

Coquille St. Jacques – don’t even know how to pronounce this properly. It is a dish of “scallops, shrimp, baked with whipped potatoes, herb sauce and melted cheese“. The whipped potato I enjoy quite a bit. It was very smooth but the the scallops did not stand out at all. Overall, this appy was satisfactory but again, nothing to write home about.

A pleasant surprise was the bread of choice. Not many places serve garlic toast straight up. There was definitely enough garlic spread and I appreciate the thinness of the toast as well. I have already promised myself to not go crazy over the bread as that just leaves nearly zero room for the main course. I succeeded! High fives all around!

I ordered the special today (yes, I actually listened to the waitress – whom wasn’t spectular, btw). It came with a Tomato Onion Salad. As the picture clearly depicts, there are red onions, cucumbers, carrots shreds and tomatoes. It was topped with a TONS of dressing. The creamy haus vinaigrette dressing was really good- not too sour with a tinge of sweetness, but definitely too much on a tiny plate. However Wendy really liked the flavor of the dill.

Wendy had the Combination Dinner. It had a mix of all the popular meats. Since I always grab a bite of what she had, I particularly enjoyed the bratwurst. It was really good and brought up some recent memories of the $7 Bratwurst hot dog at the German Fan Fest pavilion during the Games (GO CROSBY!!!) According to the website this dinner had the following: “schnitzel, beef rouladen, bratwurst, served with spätzle”. Wendy liked the spatzle and the schnitzel. She found the bratwurst a bit salty, however. All in all, it was non-regrettable decision!

Wendy especially enjoyed the Spatzle on the side. She said they were chewy and was flavored just enough. As you can see they are also slightly crisped while cooking.

The special of the day, schnitzel served with a mushroom and pearl onion demi-glaze. The thing was massive! It was probably nine to ten inches wide! I wasn’t even sure if I could even finish it (which I managed to do!). The schnitzel I appreciated quite a bit. It did not have too much batter and the taste of the meat was evident. The sauce was gratifying as I heavily enjoy mushroom and onions. I give this dish a big thumbs up!

This buddy of mine has been a very good friend since I met him last year. This dinner was for him and his selection of Old Bavaria Haus was a good one – kudos to him! The night ended with a mixed fruit birthday cake to cap the night. The food at this venue was definitely above satisfactory, but the service was not to par. It seemed that the waitress was in constant rush and seem to not care so much. Also, the worse part was when she broke the secret of the surprise birthday cake at the beginning of dinner by talking about it out loud! What’s up with that! Again, the food was good, the service was ‘meh’, but if you’re out in New West, give it a try!